POV: Rai Shinsei
Roughly ten minutes passed as we continued to follow the faint trail through the forest, however, I noticed the area was awfully quiet ever since we entered the forest, considering there should be wildlife around us.
Something's not right.
We should have already met up with the heroes by now.
As paranoia loomed upon me, I pulled out my phone from my pocket with the intention of contacting Ryan for an answer, but to my dismay, my phone was turned off.
I don't remember turning off my phone.
I attempted to turn on my phone several times, but it was to no avail as anxiety began to cloud my mind.
"Everett, can you access your phone?" I asked as he pulled out his phone from his pocket, however, my worst fears became a reality as I watched him attempt to turn on his phone several times with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"That's weird. Is my phone broken? It was working-"
"No. There's a jamming device somewhere within this forest, but what's worse is that we haven't even come across a single hero yet." I replied as I noticed the amount of trees ahead of us began to lessen.
"I've also had this feeling of uneasiness ever since-"
Arthur's sentence ended abruptly as we were petrified by the disturbing sight that stood before us.
There's no way.
In front of us, was the lifeless body of a hero that hung from the branch of a tree by a rusty chain as his body was drenched in his own blood with each of his limbs twisted like a rope.
One of the heroes that was originally supposed to be supervising us, is dead.
I glanced at the other three behind me, who were terrified and sickened with their mouths agape as I noticed panic rising within Sarah while Everett vomited on the ground shortly afterwards.
Get it together, Rai.
How could this have happened?
Ryan said there would be heroes waiting for us and yet, the only one we find is dead?!
"We're leaving now-"
"Well, what do we have here?" A deep, scratchy voice of a man asked as Arthur and I immediately looked above.
The man had a pale ivory complexion with short curly black hair and orange eyes that brimmed with malicious intentions as his outfit consisted of a jungle green cargo jacket with black cargo pants and beige military boots.
Greed?!
As we raised our guards, Greed jumped down from the tree above with his hands inside his pockets, landing in front of us as a perturbing smile crept onto his face.
This isn't good.
If Greed is roaming around freely, that means all the heroes must be dead!
"Do not let him near you at any cost!" I warned as Greed eyed me curiously.
"If you already know what my Aspect is, then that means you all must be on a mission then." Greed said with a chuckle as he activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, but despite him being a Level 3 Threat, his Aspectual Force was fairly weak as it didn't seem to affect Everett to a degree of concern.
He's only several inches taller than me, but even then, fighting him would be pointless since he could just siphon my energy.
Everett and I don't stand a chance against Greed and our Aspects are terrible against him.
Sarah is our healer, so we need to protect her at all costs.
As for Arthur, I don't know how strong he truly is, but assuming he's on par with an A-Class hero, then Greed shouldn't stand a chance against him, although Greed's Aspectcould make up the difference in their strength since Arthur is a swordsman.
I glanced at Aria, who activated her Aspect and released her Aspectual Force, which overwhelmed Greed's as she glared at him nervously.
Aria's Aspectis Light Manipulation, but despite having a Divine Elemental Aspectwith extraordinary potential, she's only ranked 20th in the academy, so I don't know how strong she is, although…
If she's able to use range attacks, we have a chance!
"Aria-"
As I called out to her, Arthur suddenly activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, which overwhelmed everyone within it as cold sweat beaded across Greed's forehead, prompting him to watch Arthur with extreme caution as his grin was quickly replaced with a frown.
"You're just a child and yet, you possess an Aspectual Force that rivals our very own leader?" Greed asked rhetorically as he dashed towards Arthur with the intention of grasping his neck, however, Arthur dodged his grasp with fleet footwork as he tried to decapitate Greed, but despite Arthur's counter-attack, Greed barely managed to avoid Arthur's blade, spacing himself away as the two of them locked eyes.
"You're too dangerous to be left alive." Greed remarked with determination as he rushed towards him with the intention of grabbing him, however, Arthur held his position with precise slashes towards Greed's vital points across his torso, preventing him from gaining any distance towards Arthur.
"Not bad, but flinging your sword around won't be enough to stop me!" Greed said with a large grin as he swiftly closed the distance between them, weaving through Arthur's attacks as he grabbed his neck, but in the instant he did, Arthur sheathed his sword as Greed suddenly released his grasp from Arthur's neck and staggered past him with his jaw clenched in exasperation.
"How-"
As Greed tried to speak, several slashes appeared across Greed's torso as he clenched his chest tightly with an alarmed expression before dropping onto a knee.
What a dangerous Aspect.
"When did you-"
"Did you really believe a swordsman would just fling their sword around for the mere fun of it? How stupid can you be?" Arthur asked mockingly with a contemptuous grin as he unsheathed his sword and pierced through the back of Greed's torso, causing him to cough up blood as Arthur stared him down with a cold gaze until Greed collapsed forward onto the ground.
So this is the strength of Arthur Kojiro.
"I-Is he dead?" Everett asked nervously as Arthur flung off Greed's blood from the blade of his sword before sheathing it.
"I hope so." Arthur replied casually while picking out earwax from his ear as he deactivated his Aspect and approached us, however, Greed's Aspectual Force didn't vanish as I noticed him struggling to pick himself up from the ground.
"Arthur, he's not dead!" I shouted as Arthur immediately activated his Aspect once more and faced Greed, who forced himself to stand as he glared at Arthur with hatred seeping through his eyes.
"That's a great look you have there." Arthur said sarcastically with a grin as Greed seethed with rage in silence before planting his feet into the ground.
Greed then rushed towards Arthur recklessly as Arthur tried to slash Greed's chest, however, he missed as Greed tried to capitalize on Arthur's mistake by grabbing his neck, but his attempt was to no avail as Arthur dodged his grasp and spaced himself away.
"You're being greedy." Greed remarked as he dashed towards Arthur, who began taking the fight more seriously as he unsheathed his second sword and tried to slash Greed's chest, however, Arthur's blade barely nicked Greed's chest as he dodged Arthur's attack with a swift side step and tried to grab Arthur's neck, but Arthur dodged his grasp and spaced himself away as they locked eyes once more.
What is this uneasy feeling?
Greed doesn't stand a chance against Arthur and his movements are too reckless.
I can understand if he's trying to kill Arthur before he loses consciousness from loss of blood, but he should already know that Arthur is too strong for him.
So why-
"I'll admit that you're stronger than me, but what about him?" Greed asked with a malicious grin as he looked towards Everett, whose face turned pale as I realized what Greed's true motive was.
Shit!
That's why Greed was recklessly throwing himself at Arthur!
He wanted to separate Arthur away from us so he can use Everett to heal himself!
"Everett!" I shouted anxiously as I unsheathed my sword and dashed towards him with the aim of blocking Greed's path, but I was too late as Greed reached him first, gripping Everett's neck tightly as he began draining Everett's energy while laughing hysterically.
I'm too late!
Everett's face turned pale by the second as he desperately tried to free himself from Greed's grasp, but despite his persistence, his actions were futile as every ounce of his energy was being siphoned from his body while Greed's wounds began to heal.
"Everett!" Aria screamed as she rushed towards Greed with her hand sparkling with light while I tried to decapitate Greed in the midst, but to our surprise, blood suddenly began gushing from a deep slash across Greed's chest as he gargled on his own blood, releasing Everett from his grasp as he staggered backwards while Arthur sheathed his black sword.
"I-I don't understand! WHO ATTACKED ME?!" Greed bellowed hoarsely in agony as he choked on his own blood while Aria rushed towards Everett and immediately began healing him.
The attack I assumed he missed actually hit him.
Just how strong are you, Arthur?
As I watched Arthur approach Greed, he glanced at me with disappointment before shifting his focus towards Greed, who was clutching his chest with a grimace of pain as I placed my sword back into its scabbard.
"I'm greedy? Isn't that ironic?" Arthur asked with a grin as he smashed the handle of his sword into the back of Greed's head, causing him to collapse face-first into the ground as he lost consciousness in the midst.
Arthur then sheathed his sword and deactivated his Aspect as we all gathered around Everett, who was slowly regaining his composure as Aria just finished healing him.
"Arthur, why did you wait until Everett was getting strangled to death?! He could have died!" Aria chastised as Arthur apologized to Everett, who casually brushed it off, but as Aria scolded Arthur, I glanced at Sarah, who was unusually quiet as I noticed her trying to suppress her body from trembling in fear.
Sarah is incapable of fighting in her current state and there could be any member of the Seven Sins lurking around as we speak.
"We need to leave now." I ordered with urgency as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Good point." Arthur replied as he took a deep breath and began running along the faint trail that was connected to the exit of this forest while the rest of us followed behind him, however, I noticed there was a member missing from our group as panic arised from within.
Where is Sarah?!
I turned around in hopes to find her lagging behind, but to my dismay, Sarah was unconscious, bathing in a puddle of her own blood as I locked eyes with a woman, whose foot rested on Sarah's head as a smug grin crept onto her face.
"SARAH!" Aria screamed with her eyes widened in horror, prompting Arthur and Everett to turn around.
"Are you serious?!" Everett exclaimed nervously with a sickened expression as Arthur clicked his tongue.
Can this mission get any worse?!
"Greed's on the verge of death, but none of you seem to have any injuries. I would have expected this from a hero, but all of you are nothing more than just mere children." The woman stated as she eyed us curiously, but despite her curiosity, I clicked my tongue in frustration as I knew exactly who this woman was, nonetheless, her three comrades that stood behind her as I quickly observed them.
The woman using Sarah's head as a footrest was none other than Lust, who stood around my height with a beige complexion, long silky black hair that was recently straightened with seductive purple eyes and a frame similar to that of a curvaceous model.
Her attire consisted of a bloodied white dress shirt complemented with slim back slacks and black short heels.
Gluttony was fairly short, standing barely five feet tall with a pale complexion, short magenta hair and forest green eyes with a plain bandaid across her left cheek.
Her attire consisted of an oversized black hoodie, a short, forest green pleated skirt with a sheathed knife wrapped in bandages around her left thigh and rugged black sneakers.
Envy was a few inches shorter than myself with a golden complexion, curly black hair that was kept in a short ponytail with brown eyes framed in black glasses and a hospital mask that covered her mouth and nose.
Her attire consisted of a shabby brown high school jacket with a white bloodied undershirt, blue ripped jeans and dirty white sneakers.
Lastly, Sloth, who stood around the same height as Greed, had a tan complexion with short wavy black hair, hazel brown eyes with dark circles under them and a prominent sharp jawline.
His attire was more sumptuous than the rest of his comrades as it consisted of an open black trench coat with a tailored black suit underneath it.
Four members of the Seven Sins are standing before us and yet, Sarah is bleeding out fast from one of her organs being punctured.
Time isn't on our side.
I glanced at the rest of my team to check on their conditions as I found Everett trembling in fear while Arthur remained unfazed, but as for Aria, her anxiety turned into animosity as her bloodlust was solely directed towards Lust, who glared at Aria with a sadistic grin as her sole purpose was to provoke Aria's rage.
Our only chance of escaping has disappeared since they captured Sarah.
They know we won't leave our teammate behind and even if we choose to run away, they would probably catch up to us in seconds with the use of their Aspects.
It's either we fight for our lives or die.